Chawla Vaishnav Bhojnalaya

If you walk down Mukherjee Marg in Rishikesh, you’ll find us near Gopal Mandir at number 13. Being so close to the temple means we get a lot of pilgrims and travelers passing through. The atmosphere in this part of town is always a bit different, a mix of people in a hurry and others just taking their time. Since we are a bhojnalaya, we keep things very traditional and strictly vegetarian. There is no meat in our kitchen, and we take that seriously because of where we are located. The space isn’t very large, but we make it work by keeping things organized. You can hear the temple bells sometimes during the day, which is a nice background sound while we are prepping vegetables or cleaning the floors. We don’t go for anything flashy; it’s just wooden tables and metal plates. The heat from the tandoor keeps the front area warm in the winters, which is good because Rishikesh can get chilly. Most of our day is spent making sure the dal is simmering and the rotis are fresh. It’s a simple way of living, serving food to people who are often far from home. We see a lot of familiar faces who come back every time they visit the city. It’s just us doing our daily work in a quiet corner of the street.